The Cost of a Smile
by Alpacca Joe
Summary: Kasumi always smiles. No matter what happens, she bears all with a cheerful smile. But, ever wonder what that smile was hiding?


_Disclaimer: Don't sue me over Ranma ½. 'Sain't mine. But this fic is. Ya wanna use it, ya ask me first._

_Kasumi's always smiling. No matter what happens, she has a smile on her face. Ever think what was behind the smile?_

_:____: flashback thought_

_*Notes at the end_

_A BloodRose Creation__@}-;-_

  


_ The Cost of a Smile_

  


_Kasumi smiled as she began the clean up after one of Akane & Ranma's usual fights. As always, Ranma had insulted Akane, & as always, Akane had hit Ranma with the table while everyone was having lunch. A piece of broken glass cut into Kasumi's finger as she cleaned. It cut deep, drawing blood, but the smile never faltered. She pulled it out & stood._

_ "Oh, my. I should go take care of this."_

_Nabiki looked up from her place on the floor._

_ "Hey, oneechan. Daijobu*?"_

_Kasumi smiled at her reassuringly, though something flashed in her eyes at the question. _

_ "I'm fine."_

_As she retreated to the kitchen the smile stayed in place, never faltering for a second. When she reached the sink, however, the corner of her mouth began to twitch slightly, & tears began flowing down her cheeks. She didn't notice. She turned on the hot water & stuck her heavily bleeding finger under the tap, her eyes blank. Soon, the water began to steam heavily, her finger turning red. Yet, she didn't pull her hand back. The water became unbearably hot, her finger pruning then beginning to bleed anew as the scalded skin split. The smile remained in place. _

_ The pressure of becoming a mother to her sisters had been great, Kasumi thought, her eyes staring blankly out the window, into the garden. And her dreams would have to be put on hold, at least until they finished high school. She would assume the duties of the household until then._

_ 'You will have to be a mother for them. Though your dear mother is gone, for them, don't show pain. They need you. You must smile for them. Kasumi, is that alright?' Soun had said one day. Kasumi smiled for him, though inside, she was screaming._

_ 'I'm fine, odousan*.' She had said. _

_Visiting Dr. Tofu's office one day, she had had to wait almost an hour while he finished setting someone's broken arm. In that time, one of the regulars had struck up a conversation with Kasumi to pass the time._

_ 'So, Kasumi dear, how's your father? Is he dealing with your mother's passing well?'_

_It had felt as though someone had stuck a hot poker through her heart & twisted until everything was burnt away. But she had smiled for the old woman. Always smiled._

_ 'Yes, ma'am. He's doing fine.'_

_ 'Well, how about your sisters? Are they taking it well? They're so young, after all.'_

_Inside her, something pulled tight, almost to its limit, but held on. It wouldn't last long._

_ :What about me?!: she cried silently, her eye twitching slightly. But again she smiled._

_ 'They're taking it hard, but they'll be fine in time.'_

_The old woman shook her head slightly, a frown on her withered face._

_ 'It's your responsibility to take care of them, dear. You need to be their mother before their sister. Be sure to reduce their mourning time to a minimum.'_

_Kasumi's smile froze on her face as the old woman stood. That something that had been pulling inside her suddenly snapped, bringing a sweet relief with it. As she opened her eyes, they shone with a strange light. A light that was not at all sane. As the old woman disappeared into the examination room, Dr Tofu caught sight of Kasumi. She was sitting in a chair, smiling at nothing. His usually cheerful smile turned into a concerned frown._

_ 'Are you alright, Kasumi?'_

_Her eyes closed in a bright smile, Kasumi turned to him. Dr. Tofu didn't know why, but that smile scared him._

_ 'I'm fine.'_

_ No one seemed to notice the change in Kasumi. She had gone from being a normal girl, with her bad days & good days, frowns & tears, to being a perpetually smiling doll. Never in a bad mood, never a frown on her face. Her days were always good, no matter the chaos that swept through the house. She would clean broken dishes, repair ripped clothes, discard ruined food, bearing all with a cheerful smile. But when she was alone... tears flowing down her face, she would pull her hair until clumps of it fell to the floor, beat the wall until her knuckles bled, bang her head against the bed frame until blessed unconsciousness would claim her. _

_ She always explained the bruises (whenever someone was paying enough attention to her to notice them) as being careless in the kitchen, the cuts as the same. But one day, when she had come down stairs with a four inch cut circling her wrist after a two hour bath, noone had noticed. That day, the pressure had become too much. While in the furo*, she had been thinking. Thinking about her life. And the depression had set in. Then the rage. With a strangled sob, Kasumi picked up a bathing stool & hurled it at the mirror. Though the stool was plastic, the Tendo family was known for its strength, Kasumi included. The mirror shattered into a thousand pieces, the stool breaking into nearly as many. As the glass fell, it caught Kasumi's eye, & almost seemed to call to her._

_ 'Kaaasssuuummmiiii,' it whispered, its voice an eerie wind._

_ 'Coommeee to mmmeeee Kaasssuuummmiiiii. Coommmee to meeee & be at peeaaccceeee.' Once again, the smile had come to her face. As she stepped out of the furo, water dripping from her body, tears began rolling down her cheeks. The salty tears ran into her mouth as she bent to pick up a particularly long, sharp shard of glass. Her eyes glazed & unaware, she held it to her left wrist & pulled it slowly across, fascinated by the way the red line slowly emerged. As the blood began to flow, Kasumi's head snapped up suddenly._

_ 'Oh, my! I have to make breakfast!' She surveyed the disarray of the bathroom; water all over the floor, the mirror broken, glass all over the place, blood puddling on the floor from her lacerated wrist._

_ 'I should clean this up.' She wrapped a washcloth around her bleeding wrist & proceeded to clean the room, humming softly, smile ever present. When Soun had asked what happened to the mirror, Kasumi had said that she slipped & a glass had fallen against it. He accepted that. After all, why would Kasumi lie?_

_ While making dinner one day, Kasumi overheard Akane & Ranma returning from school. They were arguing, as usual. Then she heard a crash, Ranma's scream, then Ranma-chan emerged from the pond. Dripping wet, 'she' preceded to insult Akane until she finally got fed up enough to send him into Low Earth Orbit. Kasumi was peeling potatoes at the time. She smiled as she slid the peeler from the potato to her finger, never flinching as she peeled back a long strip of flesh, the blood running down her arm to the floor._

_ "I'm fine." She whispered, tears still flowing down her cheeks._

_ "Kasumi! We're still hungry!" Soun called form the diningroom. Kasumi looked over her shoulder at the kitchen door, smile firmly in place._

_ "Just a minute!" She called back cheerfully. Finally pulling her ruined finger from the scalding water, Kasumi turned to the fridge, absently wiping the moisture from her face. She always kept a backup lunch just in case something like this happened. She hummed softly as she wrapped a few bandages around her ruined finger & picked up the trays. Smile bright, she strode cheerfully into her personal hell. _

_Noone ever thinks to wonder at the cost of a smile. _

_ The cost of Kasumi's smile, it seems, was her sanity._

_ The End_

  


_*Author's Notes_

_Oneechan: big sister_

_Daijobu: are you okay_

_Odousan: father_

_Furo: bathtub _

  


_Sad, huh? Just kinda popped into my head. Been thinkin bout it for a while, decided ta write it out. What ya think? Good? Anyway, this's the way I thought Kasumi would act ifin she went crazy._

_All questions, comments, whatever, can be sent to __nasty311@netzero.net___

_All flames will be used to roast the marshmallows._

_See ya. I guess._

_ Blood Rose@}-;-_

  
  



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